Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Pt 1, Part 56

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1336

USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Pt 1 > Part 56

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On April 7, 1870, Major Parsons was married to Mary McClellan, daughter of Dr. Samuel Mc- Clellan, of Philadephia, and a granddaughter of Rev. Dr. Ezra Stiles Elv, a noted Presbyterian clergyman. She died in January, 1871. One son, Francis Parsons, a lawyer of Hartford, survives.

FRANCIS PARSONS, the only son of the late Major John C. Parsons, of Hartford, was born in that city Jan. 13, 1871, and there received his elemen- tary education. He was graduated from Yale in 1893. During the succeeding two years he was engaged in newspaper work on the Hartford Cour- ant. In 1895 he entered Yale Law School, from which he was graduated two years later, and ad- mitted to practice at the Connecticut Bar. In De- cember, 1898, he was appointed assistant quarter- master-general on the staff of Gov. Lounsbury, with the rank of colonel. He has succeeded his father as director and trustee of several financial and charitable institutions of Hartford.

RICHARD SEYMOUR, a venerable and highly respected resident of Hartford, was born in that city July 24, 1823, of an honored pioneer family.

The first of the name to locate in this section was Richard Seymour, our subject's great-grand- father, who became one of the early farmers of Rocky Hill, this county, and also operated a stone quarry at that point. He lived to a good old age. Richard Seymour (2), our subject's grandfather, was born in Hartford, and for many years conducted the quarry mentioned. His death occurred in mid- (lle age. from the effects of a fall from a rock. In 1784 he married Rachel Lamb, who lived to ad- vanced age, and they had a family of thirteen chil- dren, ten of whom grew to maturity. They were reared in the Congregational faith.

Richard Seymour (3), our subject's father, was born in Hartford in 1788, and followed the ances- tral occupations of quarrying and farming, being the owner of a large tract of land at Rocky Hill. He chied in 1840, aged fifty-two years. His wife, Amanda Foote, who died in 1890, at the age of sev-

enty-four, was born in Canton, Conn., daughter of Abraham Foote, a well-known agriculturist of Can- ton and Farmington. She was one of a large fam- ily of children, and was a descendant of Nathaniel Foote, the pioneer of Wethersfield. Eleven chil- dren were born to Richard and Amanda Seymour, nine of whom lived to adult age, and four are still living : Cynthia married the late William Collins, a farmer of South Windsor; Eliza married Alden Giddings, of Romeo, Mich. ; Richard is next in the order of birth ; Delia married ( first ) Leonard Jack- son, of Cleveland, Ohio, and (second ) Henry Gott, of Spencerport, New York.

Richard Seymour remained at home during his youth, and attended the grammar school of Hart- ford. After the death of his father he bought the farm in partnership with his brother, but later went West for a year. On his return he engaged in the market business in Hartford, continuing thus about twenty years. In 1861 he purchased his present homestead at No. 31 Park street, and on retiring from the market, in 1884, he devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits and the care of his extensive tract of land. He also owns two houses in Hartford.

Mr. Seymour was married in 1857 to Miss Lucy Robbins, a native of Wethersfield, and a mem- ber of one of the oldest families of that town. Robert Robbins, her great-grandfather, was a pio- neer farmer there, and her grandfather, Robert Robbins, and father, Josiah Robbins, were both born there. Her grandmother, whose maiden name was Cynthia Wood, was born on Block Island, and lived to be one hundred years old, while a daughter lived to the age of one hundred and five. The grand- mother saw some of the troublous times of the Rev- olutionary war, and among the interesting stories of that period which she told in old age was one of an encounter with some British soldiers whom she threatened to scald with some hot soap. Josiah Robbins was a blacksmith by trade, but his later years were spent in farming at Berlin, his death oc- curring when he was eighty-two years of age. He married Harriet Crane, a native of Sandisfield. Mass., who died the following year. also, aged eighty-two. Her father, Elijah Crane, Mrs. Sey- mour's grandfather, was an early settler at Sandis- field, whence he removed to Wethersfield and then to Massachusetts, where he died. Josiah and Har- riet Robbins had five children, two of whom are living : Lucy and Fanny. Our subject's only daugh- ter, Hattie, died when twenty-four years of age. His only son, Edward G., is cashier in a bank at Germania, Kossuth Co., lowa, has traveled exten- sively over the West, including Montana and Wash- ington, and for some time was among the great ranchmen in the cattle business. He has also been ir the grain business, and has a farm of 600 acres in Kossuth county, Iowa. He is esteemed as a pro- gressive citizen, and has held many offices in his township.

Mr. Seymour is a Republican in politics, and has

Richard Seymour

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

been a member of the Congregational Church since fourteen years of age. He has been a regular at- tendant of the South Church at Hartford, and his wife has been a teacher for many years in the infant department of the Sunday-school. Mrs. Seymour also taught in the day schools of Wethersfield, Greenwich and Hartford, having prepared for the work at the Normal school in New Britain.

CHARLES FREDERIC COFFING (de- ceased ), a former well-known and highly-esteemed citizen of West Hartford, was born in Great Bar- rington, Mass., March 11, 1841, and traced his ancestry back to Sir Richard Coffin, Knight, who went from Normandy to England with William the Conqueror. It was the grandfather of our sub- ject who added "g" to the family name, making it Coffing.

The first of the family to come to America was Tristram Coffin, who was born in England in 1605. one of the six children of Peter and Joan ( Thimber ) Coffin. He died in 1627-28. His grandparents were Nicholas and Joan Coffin, the former of whom died in 1613. Tristram Coffin was about fifty-five years of age when he came to the New World. He married Dionis Stephens, and died in Nantucket, R. I. (II) Tristram Coffin, Jr., born in England in 1632, married Judith Greenleaf, daughter of Ed- mund Greenleaf, and widow of Henry Somerby, and died in Newbury, Mass., in 1704. (III) Stephen Coffin, born in Newbury, Mass., Aug. 18, 1665, married Sarah Atkinson. (IV) Daniel Coffin, born in Newbury. September, 1700, married Lydia Moul- ton. (\') Isaac Coffin married Anna Churchill, of Long Island. (VI) Isaac Coffin, born in Fishkill, N. Y., was married Feb. 8, 1770, to Sarah Nichols, who was born Feb. 23, 1751. (VII) John Churchill Coffing, born in Derby, Conn., Oct. 6. 1776. Hle married (first) Jerusha Fitch, daugh- ter of Hezekiah and Jerusha ( Burr) Fitch, and granddaughter of Gov. Thomas Fitch. By her he had

( VH11 ) Charles Fitch Coffing, born April 5. 1812. He made his home in Great Barrington, Mass., where for many years he was extensively engaged in farming. In 1863 he moved to West Hartford, where he continued to follow farming until his death, in August, 1865. He married Catherine Eldridge, who died May 9, 1883. They had three children: John, who was killed in the Civil war: Charles Frederic ; and Josephine, who married J. Watson Beach, of Hartford.

( IX ) Charles Frederic Coffing, whose name in- troduces this sketch, was reared and educated in Great Barrington, Mass., and after attaining man's estate followed farming on the home place until 1864, when he joined the family in West Hartford. During his residence here he operated the farm which his father had purchased, and as an agricult- urist he met with excellent success, becoming one of the most prosperous citizens of his community. He

died July 30, 1887, and was laid to rest in the ceme- tery at Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

Mr. Coffing married, in West Hartford, March 5. 1867, Miss Julia Hall Perkins, a daughter of Luthier Harris and Harriet ( Hall) Perkins. Her fatlier, a native of Hartford, and a graduate of Trinity College, died when she was only a year old. He was a civil engineer by profession, and was a partner of Nicholas Harris in the wholesale gro- cery business in Hartford. To Mr. and Mrs. Coffing was born one daughter, (X) Catherine Harriet, who married Oct. 8, 1895. Charles Ed- ward Beach (son of Charles Mason Beach), by whom she had two sons, Charles Frederic, born Oct. 11, 1896, and Thomas ,Coffing, born Oct. 16, 1899. She died March 2, 1900.

JOHN WARREN DANFORTH (deceased) who was for over thirty years a well-known whole- sale grocer on State street, Hartford, was a native of the State of Vermont, and descended from a long line of Massachusetts ancestry, the founder of the American family having been Nicholas Dan- forth, one of the early settlers of Boston.

John W. Danforth, our subject, was born in Wethersfield, Windsor Co., Vt., in 1812, a son of Joseph and Lydia (Cox) Danforth, the former of whom was a farmer. Our subject passed his early school days in his native town, and assisted in the cultivation of the home farm until he was twenty- two years old, after which he spent some time in Tolland county, Conn., and Buffalo, N. Y. About 1839 or 1840 he came to Hartford and engaged in the wholesale grocery trade, as mentioned above, in which he met with uninterrupted success until called away by death, in August, 1875, Hartford thus losing one of its most useful and substantial citizens, its board of alderman a wise and able mem- ber, and the Masonic Fraternity a most worthy brother.

Mr. Danforthi was married in Plymouth, Lu- zerne Co., Penn., Jan. 26, 1847, to Mary Gaylord, daughter of Henderson and Bethia ( Nesbitt) Gay- lord, and a descendant of an old and highly re- pected Connecticut family, of whom further men- tion will shortly be made. To this union were born three children : Mary is the wife of Charles A. Pease, a grain and feed merchant on Main street, Hartford. Ella lives at home. Joseph Warren is a member of the firm of Simpson, Hen- dee & Co., of New York City, who do a wholesale grain business ; he married Maud ( Ilough) Wells, and they have one child, John Warren ; they reside in East Orange, New Jersey.

The old GAYLORD family, of which Mrs. Mary Danforth is a descendant, is traced back to William Gaylord, who came from England about 1630. Walter, the next head of a family, married Mary, daughter of Deacon Stebbins, of Hartford, Conn. Joseph, of the third generation, married Sarah Stan- ley. John, of the fourth, married Elizabeth Hickox.

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Joseph, of the fifth, the great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Danforth, was born in what was then Farming- ton, Conn., but lived the greater part of his life in Wallingford and Bristol, dying in Bristol. Charles, of the sixth generation, born in Wallingford, Conn , married Hannah Andrus, and died while serving in the Revolutionary war, July 5, 1777. Of the seventh generation was Charles Eleazer Gaylord, M. D., of Wyoming Valley, Penn., a native of Bristol, Conn. Of the eighth was Henderson Gay- lord, and of the ninth is Mrs. Mary G. Danforth, widow of the subject of this sketch.

Among the ancestors of Mrs. Danforth may also be mentioned Thomas Scott, John Stanley, Edwin Stebbins, the Hickoxes and Riches, all very prominent people in both Pennsylvania and Con- necticut. Mrs. Danforth still has her home in Hartford.

JASPER HYDE BOLTON, JR., retired, with residence in Hartford, is a native of Connecticut, born Oct. 13, 1842, in Stafford, Tolland county, and is of Scottish descent on the paternal side.

Thomas Bolton, his grandfather, a native of Scotland, came to Stafford in 1825, and there man- aged and superintended an ore mill the rest of his life, dying at the age of seventy years. He mar- ried Mary Alcott, born in Vermont, near Rutland, one of a family of three children to reach maturity ; she died in 1862, at the patriarchal age of ninety years, a firm adherent of the orthodox faith.

Jasper Hyde Bolton, Sr., father of Jasper, Jr., was born in Stafford, Conn., was educated there in the common schools, and at the age of seventeen years became a teacher. For a time he worked on the farm of J. Hyde (the richest man in Con- necticut, in his day, and a prominent man in Staf- ford), and this continued until Mr. Bolton was twenty-five years old, at which time he commenced working in a machine shop, his duty being the mak- ing of cylinders for wool-carding machines. Later, for three years, he manufactured shoes in Stafford, and then commenced the manufacture of cotton warps, a business he followed up to 1863. In that year he came to Hartford and embarked in the wholesale liquor business; but at the end of three years he abandoned it, and along with our subject carried on a restaurant business on Asylum street for four years, in 1880 becoming the proprietor of the "Park Central Hotel," where the "Hotel Hart- ford" now stands, being associated in business with his son, Jasper H., Jr., some six years. He then retired from active life, passing his remaining days at the present home of his son, Jasper H., Jr., and dying there in July, 1896, at the age of seventy- five years. In politics he was a Whig and Re- publican, and for eight years was postmaster at Stafford, town clerk, deputy sheriff, and sheriff for eight years, also represented his town in both houses. He was a very prominent and highly re- spected man, a fine orator, and enjoyed the respect

and esteem of a wide circle of friends. In religious. faith he and his wife were both members of the Universalist Church. In 1841 he married Anna Maria Smith, who was born in Stafford, a daugh- ter of Minor Smith, a well-known farmer. To this union were born four children, our subject being the eldest and the only one now living.

Jasper H. Bolton, Jr., whose name opens this sketch, made his home in Stafford until 1862, receiv- ing his literary education at the common schools of the locality, after which he attended the military academy at Worcester, Mass., and the Eastman Business College, at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. While at the Military Academy, he was major of the Highland Cadets. On Aug. 11, 1862, he enlisted in the navy under Farragut, serving first on the "Connecticut," then on the gunboat "Westfield." In January, 1863, he was gunner's mate, acting as gunner, and was serving aboard a vessel that was blown up, narrowly escaping with his life; later was on the "Honduras," then on the man-of-war "Brooklyn" under Commodore Bell, serving as ship's yeoman until after the battle of Mobile. While serving on the "Westfield," he participated in the battle of Galveston, Texas. After the affair at Mobile he was discharged as ship's yeoman, and returned to Stafford; thence after a few months went to Jackson, Mich., remaining there four years, and then located in Hartford and commenced the hotel and restaurant business; later entered the Post Office Department service, serving three years on a train, after which he held the position of mail- ing clerk in the Hartford post office seven years and two months, resigning at the end of that time. We next find him in the capacity of the genial and courteous landlord of the "Park Central Hotel," which he conducted until 1887, when he retired. In his day he has done a great deal of catering- feeding 10,800 on Battle Flag Day, 8,400 on Buck- ingham's Day, and 5,200 on Grant's Day.

In November, 1864, Mr. Bolton married Emily R. Niles, born in Windsor, Conn., a daughter of Lucas H. and Henrietta W. Niles, who were the parents of four children, only one of whom is now living. The mother, who was born in Stafford, and is now eighty-six years of age, makes her home with our subject. Mr. Niles, who was a woolen manufacturer, spent some years in Windsor, later making his home in Rockville, where he died in 1884. In politics Mr. Bolton is a Republican, but has never aspired to office. Socially he has been a member of the Michigan Lodge, No. 50, A. F. & A. M., of Jackson, Mich., since 1864; is affiliated with the Improved Order of Red Men, No. I, of Hartford; also with the G. A. R., Robert O. Tyler Post, No. 50, in which he has held all the offices, and is a member of the Army and Navy Club. He has dealt considerably in real estate, and owns twenty-two acres of highly valuable land, besides an elegant residence at No. 457 Wethersfield avenue, Hartford.

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

HON. FRANCIS H. PARKER, a prominent lawyer of Hartford, and eldest son of Ozias H. and Maria M. ( Ayer) Parker, was born in East Haddam, Conn., Sept. 23, 1850. His father, a farmer in the town where he now lives, and his inother were also born in East Haddam. They had five children, all living: Francis H .; Henry C. is a farmer and miller in East Iladdam; Thomas Lyon, a druggist at Deep River, Conn., has served in the General Assembly, and is now postmaster; Lucy M. was educated in Wilbraham Academy, Mass., and for many years has taught in the public schools of Hartford; and Sarah L. is living with the father, the mother having died in 1897, aged sixty-eight years.

Ozias H. Parker, father of the above named children, and the youngest son of Elial and Pru- dence (Avery) Parker, was born in East Haddam, Nov. 13, 1823, and is still living in the house in which he was born. He represented his native town in the General Assembly in the years 1851, 1854, 1857, and 1877, and served as selectman for many years, beginning in 1863. In 1877 he de- clined an appointment tendered him by Gov. Rich- ard D. Hubbard, as a member of a commission to revise the pauper laws of the State. He is at pres- ent one of the trustees of the town library, and a director in the local creamery company.

Francis H. Parker graduated at Wesleyan Uni- versity in the class of '74, and at Yale College, law department, in the class of '76. In the fall of that year he began, and has since continued, the prac- tice of law in Hartford, though continuing to re- side in East Haddam until 1885, since which time he has resided in the Capital City. While a resi- dent of East Haddam, Mr. Parker represented that town in the General Assembly in the years 1878 and 1880, and was a delegate to several State conventions. From 1887 to 1891, and from 1894 to 1895, he served as prosecuting attorney for the city of Hartford, but in 1894 was defeated as can- didate for the State Senate. In August, 1898, Mr. Parker was appointed referee in bankruptcy for the county of Hartford, and held the office until March 31, 1900, when he resigned to accept the office of United States attorney for the district of Con- necticut, to which office he was appointed by Presi- dent Mckinley. Mr. Parker has always taken an active interest in the political party with which he affiliates, and for four years, from 1896 to 1900, served as chairman of the Republican town and city committee.

Early in 1898 Mr. Parker was appointed trustee of the Connecticut School for Boys at Meriden, and in 1889 was elected president of the board of trus- tees, wlticlt position he still holds. Mr. Parker takes a lively interest in historical matters, especially as related to his own State, and since 1886 has been a member of the Connecticut Historical Society, and is chairman of its library committee.

Mr. Parker is a descendant in the seventh gen-

eration from William Parker, a proprietor of Ilart- ford, and Margery, his wife, who in 1645, imme -; diately after the Fenwick session, removed to Say- brook. His great-grandfather, John Parker, born Feb. 14, 1732, in that part of ancient Saybrook, now constituting the town of Essex, removed to East Haddam about 1760, married Sarah Fuller, the daughter of Capt. Ephraim and Sarah ( Beck- witlt) Fuller, of that town, and served in the Revo- lutionary war.

Through his great-grandmother, Sarah (Fuller) Parker, Mr. Parker is descended from six passengers in the "Mayflower." In the line of his grandmother, Prudence (Avery) Parker, he is descended from Capt. James Avery, Thomas Stanton, Thomas Lord, Robert Parke, John Elderkin, William Fowler, Ed- mund Tapp, Richard Bushnell, John Drake, Thomas Leffingwell, and other early settlers of the Connecti- cut and New Haven Colonies. In the line of his ntother, the daughter of Hubert and Susanna ( Lyon ) . Ayer, and granddaughter of Josiah Lyon, a soldieri of the Revolution, and Mercy Andrews, his wife, he is descended from William Lyon, of Rox -; bury, John Hastings, of Braintree, Richard Humph- rey, of Cambridge, Mass., as well as from William Andrews, John Kirby, William Comstock, John- Stebbins, and many other early Connecticut settlers.

Mr. Parker is a member of the college: fra -- ternity, Phi Beta Kappa, of the Sons of the Revo -; lution, of the Hartford Public Library Association, and of the Hartford County Bar Association., Among the large number of cases in which he has been engaged, perhaps the one of most public in- terest was that of Henry L. Goodwin against the. town of East Hartford, in which Mr. Goodwin sought an injunction to prevent the treasurer ofithat town paying an order of $5,000, which had been illegally drawn, in payment for services in lobby- ing a bill through the Legislature imposing upon the State of Connecticut the expense of maintaining a free bridge across the Connecticut river, the ex- pense previously having been borne by a number of towns. Mr. Parker was retained by Mr. Goodwin, and was successful in the superior and supreme courts, but later an attempt was made to procure the passage of an act through the Legislature au- thorizing the town of East Hartford to pay the order, and Mr. Parker appearing before that body, conducted the case to a successful issue.

Mr. Parker was married, Dec. 9, 1891, to Mrs. Adelaide (Leeds) Fowler, of New London ; they have no children.

F. WILLSON ROGERS, Hartford, State Man- ager of the Massachusetts Mutual Insurance Com- pany, of Springfield, Mass., is a native of Connec- ticut, born Dec. 11, 1851, in the city of Hartford.

William Rogers, his father, was born in Hart- ford, May 13, 1801, a son of Asa, who was born in New Salem, Conn., in 1756, and came to Hartford about 18or, following farming there. He married

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Hannah Harris, and had a family of eight children, all now deceased. William was reared on the home farm, and when old enough commenced to learn the trade of a jeweler, afterward carrying on that line of business in partnership with Joseph Church, the firm being organized in 1825, and their store located on Ferry street, Hartford. At the end of ten years the copartnership was dissolved, Mr. Rogers remov- ing to No. 6 State and continuing the business until 1862, in which year he sold out to his son, William Rogers, Jr.

While in business on State street he experi- miented in silver plating, and he was the first to put the process of electroplating into practical and com- mercial use. Through his individual skill and abil- ity the art was perfected. In fact, he was the first to manufacture plated ware in this country, and the first to apply for a patent on sectional plate. He carried on the silver-plating industry alone until 1847, in which year was organized the celebrated firm of Roger Bros., which still enjoys a world- wide reputation. In course of time they occupied the old jail building as a factory, on Pearl street, later building where now stands the factory of the Jewel Belting Co. Here they continued up to 1862, at which time they closed out, and made a contract with the Meriden Brittania Co., to manufacture their goods under a royalty, William Rogers filling the position of superintendent of that department to his death, which occurred in 1873, when he was aged seventy-three years. This factory employs a force of 1,000 men.

In 1828 William Rogers was married to Parthe- nia Tyler, who died Jan. 3, 1831, without issue. On Dec. 7, 1831, he was married to Nancy Wilson, who was born at Golden Bridge, N. Y., a daughter of Nehemiah Wilson. To this union were born eight children, seven of whom are living: Ellen F., wife of John H. Brace, of Syracuse, N. Y. : Lucy W., widow of the late Dennis Sage, of East Milton, Mass. : Mary E., wife of James S. Belden, of Hart- ford, Conn. : Sarah A., married to Joseph A. Wool- lev, of Hartford, Conn. : Georgina C., wife of Isaac H. Coe, of Hartford; Isabella J., wife of Stephen Raymond, of Rochester, N. Y .; and F. Willson, mentioned below. The mother of these died in 1876, at the age of sixty-five years. The parents were both members of the M. E. Church, and for many years the father was superintendent of the Sunday-school of that denomination in Hartford. F. Willson Rogers, who is now the only male representative of the old-tinie house of Rogers Bros., received his education at the common and highi schools of Hartford, after which he served an ap- prenticeship to the trade of jeweler with Ira H. Town, at Montpelier, Vt., at the end of four years returnng to Hartford. Here for two and one-half years he was in the employ of C. H. Case, jeweler, then embarking in the silverware business, being sec- rotary and director of the William Rogers Manufac- turing Co. for twelve years. Mr. Rogers then en-

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Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Pt 1, Part 56

Author: J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1336

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1336